Renewables/Energy Transition

A Scottish hydro-energy developer which recently warned the sector faces a countdown to extinction is preparing to start work on a new £13.6million Highland project.
Bosses at Green Highland Renewables (GHR) said its new project at Loch Eilde Mor, near Kinlochleven, will be one of the last hydro schemes commissioned in the region due to UK Government cuts to subsidies.
Under the feed-in tariff (FiT) system, small-scale solar, wind and hydro schemes have received fixed-rate payments for the electricity they generate since 2010.

Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce (AGCC) has joined an alliance of fellow trade bodies which is banging the drum for a wider debate on the benefits of fracking.
The alliance, which includes Oil and Gas UK, made the call after 55% of UK adults who took part in a poll said they want domestic gas production – including from fracking - to be prioritised over imports.
The same survey by ComRes indicated 56% think reducing the cost of energy is more important than environmental concerns.

Petrofac and GE have been awarded a contract worth more than £110million to engineer, construct and install a turnkey power system.
It will connect up to 336MW of clean energy from the Galloper offshore wind farm off Suffolk, to the British grid.

Scotland’s hydro power faces an agonising march into near-oblivion by the end of the decade, an industry boss warned yesterday.
Mark Mathieson, chief executive of Green Highland Renewables (GHR) said the UK Government had failed to take account of evidence and missed out on broader benefits of hydro energy in its review of feed-in tariffs.

A consortium has pledged £500million worth of backing for a £2billion wind farm planned for the outer Forth Estuary, bringing the construction phase a step closer, the company behind the project said yesterday.
Mainstream Renewable Power is now in a stronger position to meet the March 26 deadline for achieving financial close, though a judicial review continues to cast doubt on the scheme.
The Neart na Gaoithe (NNG) wind farm would bring huge economic gains to Scotland. More than £540million will be spent in Scotland during the construction phase, with 500 jobs created.

Attempts are being made to revive the “corpse” of the carbon capture and storage (CCS) project which had been destined for Peterhead, Scotland’s energy minister said yesterday.
But Fergus Ewing said none of the other options being mulled would be easy to put into practice.
Plans to build the CCS plant were derailed in November following the UK Government’s decision to cut £1billion worth of funding for the technology.

The firm behind ambitious plans to create a floating windfarm off the north-east coast have promised it will deliver a jobs bonanza.
Energy giant Statoil said last night its Hywind scheme would generate hundreds of posts during the construction, 15 miles from shore.